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Measuring Innovation in Education
United States Country Note
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In this country note:
Background on the 2014 OECD Measurement of Innovation in Education report (p. 1)
Key report findings on innovation in education (p. 1)
Report approach to measuring educational system innovation (p. 2)
The United States’ top five organisational education innovations, 2003-2011 (p. 3)
The United States’ top five pedagogic education innovations, 2003-2011 (p. 4)
The purpose of the Measuring Innovation in Education report The ability to measure innovation is essential to an improvement strategy in education. Knowing whether, and
how much, practices are changing within classrooms and educational organisations, how teachers develop and
use their pedagogical resources, and to what extent change can be linked to improvements would provide a
substantial increase in the international education knowledge base.
The OECD Measuring Innovation in Education report offers new perspectives to address this need for
measurement in educational innovation through a comparison of innovation in education to innovation in
other sectors, identification of specific innovations across educational systems, and construction of metrics to
examine the relationship between educational innovation and changes in educational outcomes. This country
brief provides a short overview of the key findings of the report, as well as the top five US pedagogic and
organisational innovations identified in this report.
Key findings on innovation in education – did you know?
Overall composite innovation index, 2000-2011
In education, innovation can take place through either significant changes in the use of a particular
educational practice or the emergence of new practices in an educational system.
Contrary to common belief, there is a fair level of innovation in the education sector, both relative to
other sectors and in absolute terms.
Within education, innovation intensity is greatest in higher education, with secondary and primary
education approximately equal.
Compared to other sectors, knowledge and method innovation is above average in education, product
and service innovation is below average, and technology innovation is at the average sectorial level.
In Europe, higher education stands out in terms of speed of adopting innovation compared to the
economy average as well as the rates in primary and secondary education.
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MIE Figure 17.1
Measuring Innovation in Education
United States Country Note
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There have been large increases in innovative pedagogic practices across all countries studied for this
report in areas such as relating lessons to real life, higher order skills, data and text interpretation and
personalisation of teaching.
In their pedagogic practice, educators have innovated in their use of assessments and in the
accessibility and use of support resources for instruction.
Educational organisations have innovated in the areas of special education, creation of professional
learning communities for teachers, evaluation and analytics and relationship building with external
stakeholders, such as parents.
In general, countries with greater levels of innovation see increases in certain educational outcomes,
including higher (and improving) 8th grade mathematics performance, more equitable learning
outcomes across ability and more satisfied teachers.
Innovative educational systems generally have higher expenditures than non-innovative systems;
however, their students are no more satisfied than those in less innovative systems.
Approach to measuring system innovations While Measuring Innovation in Education identifies and analyses hundreds of innovations at the classroom and
organisational levels, this brief identifies the top five US innovations in pedagogic and organisational practices
between 2003 and 2011. To determine each educational system’s top five innovations in pedagogic and
organisational practices, data from three international education datasets – Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and the
Programme on International Student Assessment (PISA) – were analysed to identify the areas in which each
education system has demonstrated emerging or changing organisational and pedagogic practices over a
specific period. For a full description of the data and methods used for analysis in this report, see report Annex
A: Data Sources and Methods.
Please cite this publication as: OECD (2014), Measuring Innovation in Education: A New Perspective, Educational Research and Innovation, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264215696-en This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. © OECD 2014 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and
multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable
acknowledgment of OECD as source and copyright owner is given. All requests for commercial use and translation rights should be
submitted to [email protected].
Note regarding data from Israel
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and are under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by
the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the
terms of international law.
Country Note Authors:
Dara Fisher
Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin
Questions can be directed to:
Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin
Measuring Innovation in Education
United States Country Note
3
The United States’ top five innovations in organisational policy and practice:
(1) More use of student assessments for monitoring school progress…
Percentage of 15-year old students in schools where assessments are used for
monitoring progress from year to year and change over time
The United States’ top organisational innovation was the use of student assessments for monitoring progress
over time. Between 2000 and 2009, the United States saw a 24% point difference in the percentage of 15-year
old students in schools where assessments are used for monitoring progress from year-to-year; as of 2009,
over 97% of all American secondary students were enrolled in schools using this practice.
(2) More use of assessments for national or district benchmarking… The United States also demonstrated innovation in education through changes in the use of student
assessments for district or national benchmarking. Between 2000 and 2009, the percentage of US 15-year olds
in schools where assessments are used for comparing school to district or national performance increased by
23% points, to over 95% in 2009.
(3) More use of assessment data to inform parents of student progress… Between 2000 and 2009, the percentage of 15-year old students in the United States in schools where
achievement data is tracked over time by an administrative authority increased by 20.7% points, from 76.2%
to 96.9%. This increase was the largest in this metric of any educational system analysed for this report; in
contrast, the OECD average change over the same period was 1% point.
(4) More external evaluation of secondary school classrooms… US secondary schools underwent more frequent observations of teachers’ practices by inspectors or other
persons external to the school. Between 2003 and 2011, the United States saw a 20% point difference in the
percentage of 8th grade mathematics students in schools in which observations by external evaluators were
used to evaluate the practices of their teachers and an 18% point difference in 8th grade science students
experiencing the same phenomenon.
(5) More parental service on secondary school committees… Innovation in parental involvement can be indicated through increases in parental invitations to join school
committees at either the primary or the secondary level. Between 2003 and 2007, invitations for parental
participation in 8th grade school committees in the United States saw a significant increase of 15% points, an
increase well above the OECD average difference in this metric, which saw no change over the same period.
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MIE Figure 14.3
Measuring Innovation in Education
United States Country Note
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The United States’ top five innovations in pedagogic practice:
(1) More observation and description in secondary school science lessons…
Percentage of 8th grade science students whose teachers ask them to observe
and describe natural phenomena in at least half their lessons and change over time
The United States’ top pedagogic innovation was the requirement that students explain and elaborate on their
answers during secondary school science lessons, which enhances students’ curiosity and scientific
communication skills. Between 2007 and 2011, according to teachers, the United States saw a 31% point
increase in the percentage of students asked to observe and describe natural phenomena during 8th grade
science lessons, compared to a mean difference of 20% points for OECD countries over the same period.
(2) More individualised reading instruction in primary school classrooms… Change in the use of individualised instruction is one indicator of educational innovation at the primary school
level. Between 2001 and 2011, the United States saw a 27% point increase in the proportion of 4th grade
students whose teachers always or almost always use individualised instruction for reading, the fourth-largest
change of any educational system examined in this report.
(3) More use of answer explanation in primary mathematics… Innovation in the form of an increase in the practice of asking students to elaborate on their answers occurred
in primary mathematics classes in the United States. Between 2003 and 2011, the proportion of students
explaining answers during 4th grade math lessons increased by 17% points (based on teacher reporting), the
sixth-largest gain in this metric of any system included in this report. Over the 2007 to 2011 period, US
students reported a 6% point gain for this metric, confirming the positive change.
(4) More relating of primary school lessons to everyday life… Between 2007 and 2011, based on teacher reports, the United States experienced a 17% point increase in the
percentage of 4th grade mathematics students whose teachers ask them to relate what they learn in class to
their daily life in at least half of their lessons. Between 2003 and 2011the share of 4th grade science students
whose teachers ask them to relate what they learn in class to their daily life also increased by 13% points.
(5) More text interpretation in primary lessons… Finally, US students were asked to interpret text in 4th grade reading lessons to a greater extent than before.
Between 2001 and 2011, the percentage of students whose teachers ask them to make generalisations and
draw inferences from a text one or more times per week increased by 9% points, to 98%. Having become
nearly universal, this practice increased less in the US than the OECD mean increase (16% points).
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MIE Figure 6.13